


There's Too Much Love

by icalldibs



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, M/M, Misunderstandings, Stiles is team Berica
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 21:14:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7007221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icalldibs/pseuds/icalldibs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loosely based on the song "There's Too Much Love" by Belle & Sebastian.</p><p>Stiles and Derek are an established relationship and are witnessing the new relationship of their best friends Erica and Boyd. The L-word is accidentally slipped and miscommunication ensues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There's Too Much Love

**Author's Note:**

> I highly would recommend listening to Belle & Sebastian's "There's Too Much Love" while reading this. Then, while you're at it, go ahead and watch "The Way He Looks" on Netflix. You will not regret.

“Derek! Derek, look!”

Derek turned to see Boyd and Erica eating lunch together like every other day. They were both calmly talking to one another and lowkey flirting. Erica would tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and lightly touch Boyd’s bicep as she laughed at one of his dumb jokes. Boyd would duck his head and smile softly after Erica complemented him. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Well, they were having pretty good pizza today. That was new. 

“Oh my god, it’s happening. It’s finally happening!”

“Stiles, I don’t know why you’re getting so worked up. They’re just eating lunch like us.” Derek plucked a tater-tot from his tray and flicked it at Stiles’ face. 

Stiles ineffectively tried to deflect the tot from hitting him, but ended up slapping himself in the face causing Derek to laugh. Stiles looked over at him unamused. “Ha. Ha. Very funny. Throw tater-tots at your boyfriend’s face because he’s excited our best friends are finally getting together.” 

Derek rolled his eyes, but he could feel his ears and the back of his neck burning up. They’ve been officially together for over seven months now, and he still gets chills and butterflies every time Stiles refers to him as “boyfriend.” He looked over at Stiles’ enthusiastic face and over-energetic motions as he watched Erica and Boyd. Erica threw her head back as she laughed and Boyd shyly watched her.

They were so disgustingly adorable he wanted to puke. 

“Babe,” Stiles said, hitting Derek’s arm enthusiastically as he watched the couple. “I can’t. Oh god. Did you see Boyd’s face? He’s so lovesick! It’s  _ adorable! _ ” Stiles turned back to the table to munch on his pizza. He looked over at Derek thoughtfully. “Do you think this is how other people felt when you were courting me?”

Derek hit his head. “I was not  _ courting _ you, Stiles! We were both painstakingly oblivious of the other person’s feelings. If anything,  _ you _ were courting  _ me _ !” 

Stiles just smiled warmly over at him. He put a hand over Derek’s and rubbed his thumb over his knuckles just like he did when Derek was nervous and worked up. “I know, babe. I know. We were both pretty clueless, huh?”

They definitely were. It took them years before either of them made a move, and even longer for Derek to ask Stiles out. It was not a fun time constantly wondering if they were just strictly friends or something more. Then finally stressing over how, when, and where to ask him out. Or if he’d even say yes. And then there was the constant knowledge that Lydia and the Sheriff could kill him at any moment. And that was only the first two weeks. Since then, Derek has learned that Stiles has the full capability to kill Derek himself. But he loves him all the more for it. 

“That’s an understatement.” Derek glanced over at the table behind Stiles that held Erica and Boyd. The love that radiated off the two was so pure and strong. There’s no doubting that, when they finally get together, they’ll last forever. Derek wanted them both to be happy; they were his two best friends in the whole world. Boyd and Derek grew up together since the start, never once did they lose each other. Then Erica showed up in middle school as a small, epileptic girl with no friends. Boyd was immediately drawn to her because of her brain—she was the smartest kid in their class—but stayed for her heart. Derek ended up loving Erica too, but not in the way Boyd did, but in a more sisterly way because her fierceness reminded her of Laura and he gravitated toward strong women. The three of them became an unstoppable force by the time they reached high school, and everyone knew not to mess with one of them, because the others would retaliate. 

“Oh! Derek!” Stiles squealed as Erica wrapped her arms around Boyd. 

“Calm down, it’s just a hug.” Derek picked at his food. “Erica gives me hugs all the time.” 

“Really?” Stiles asked.  “Does she do that?”

Derek looked up to see the girl in question fiercely kissing his best friend. Damn. Stiles was right. The two seemed to have forgotten that they were currently in the school cafeteria, surrounded by horny high schoolers. “Huh.”

“ ‘Huh’?” Stiles repeated. “Are you kidding me? Our best friends are finally getting it after  _ years _ of UST and all you have to say is ‘huh’?”

He furrowed his brows. “What’s UST?”

Stiles threw his hands in the air. “You’re hopeless! Why am I even dating you?!”

“Because you love me and I love you,” Derek said smugly, throwing a triumphant smile in his direction. 

“Well,” Stiles said defeated, “you’ve got me there.” 

Their conversation fell and Derek froze. This was the first time they ever said the L-word to each other. Derek snapped his eyes to Stiles, who seemed to have the same realization. He didn’t need a mirror to know that his face had the same expression plastered over it—confusion, realization, panic… and love. They stared at each other. Neither of them knew what to do. 

Stiles broke the silence, “Shit.” 

“Oh,” Derek’s heart broke. Was he regretting what he said? Did Derek’s joke make him scared and realize that he didn’t feel that way? It was all too much to process right there at the lunch table in front of the love of his life. 

Oh shit. 

He was so deeply in love with Stiles and he didn’t even feel the same way! Derek quickly pushed back from the table. He used a little too much force and caused the chair to fail to the floor. It must have been really loud, because the whole cafeteria stopped what they were doing to stare at him. Even Erica and Boyd came back to the present to check it out. 

Derek frantically looked around the cafeteria at all the confused faces. It felt as if their gazes were searing into his skull. He glanced over at Stiles who looked just as frantic as he felt. But he couldn’t stay here. “I— I gotta go,” he said, scooping his books and backpack into his arms. He faintly heard Stiles call after him, but he didn’t stop, not until he was outside, running to the gazebo the shop class built on the edge of the school property line. 

Derek threw his stuff on the ground and paced. Horrible, horrible thoughts were running through his brain. He knew he was making a big deal out of this, a bigger one than probably necessary, but he didn’t care at this point. He felt like he was going to die. Like the sheer thought of going back in there could kill him, leave him dead on the gazebo floor. Well, he thought darkly, at least that would get kids to stop making out here for a while. 

His mind sobered. 

This is where he and Stiles had their first kiss. 

They were at the school for their homecoming dance and they had snuck away well into the night to run out there. They were both shaking and nervous, but Stiles had lead him by the hand to the furthest corner. He cupped Derek’s jaw with both hands and looked straight into his eyes.  _ “Tell me if you don’t want this. Tell me if you want to stay just friends, and I’ll stop. Be sure, because once I do this, there’s no going back.”  _ He didn’t. There wasn’t. And they never had. It was the best night of his teenage life. 

And now everything that Derek has built with Stiles was ruined because of him. He collapsed to the floor in the far corner. All he wanted to do was cry, so he did. 

After it felt like Derek cried as much as his body allowed, he curled up on himself and stared at the initials on the post. He and Stiles carved them there after their kiss, documenting the first day of the rest of their lives. He faintly traced the outline of Stiles’ initials. _ M. S. _ It looked like there were more tears to be shed. 

But before he could cry anymore, he heard footsteps pound up the stairs of the gazebo. He didn’t bother to look. It was probably some teenagers who wanted to make out, or Boyd and Erica, maybe. “Go away!” Derek yelled at whoever it was. 

“Fuck that.”

Derek softly huffed to himself. Of course it would be him. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, for starters, you don’t own this gazebo so I can come and go as I please. Also, I was having a fantastic lunch, witnessing the blossoming relationship between two amazing people with my boyfriend when he decided to tell me that he loves me, freak out, and run away. Even though I said it back.” Stiles walked forward and Derek felt something heavy cover his shoulders. He kneeled down next to him, wrapping the fabric around him. “Then,” he started with a shaky breath, “my stupid, amazing, idiotic, wonderful boyfriend ran out in the middle of a rainstorm in his thin, dumb henley, leaving his jacket inside.” Stiles fiddled with the jacket, making sure it was secure around his arms before sitting down next to him. 

“That was really dumb of you. You could have gotten pneumonia. But, you probably didn’t even notice it was raining did you?”

No, he didn’t.

“You probably didn’t even have time to register that you were cold and wet while you were throwing yourself a pity party, huh?”

Right again.

“Derek,” Stiles pleaded, “look at me. I can’t do this.”

_ I can’t do this.  _

Derek slowly turned to Stiles who was trying not to cry. His heart sank further. He took a deep breath. “If you want to break up with me, you can. Just do it.” He turned away and braced himself for the worst. 

“Break up with you?” Stiles asked incredulously. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? Did you not even hear what I said? I love you, too, Derek! Nothing you do can change that!”

Derek was confused. He glanced over at Stiles and tried to see if he was joking. But he wasn’t. He looked determined even while he was crying. “You… want to stay together? Even after this dramatic shit I just pulled?”

Stiles’ features grew stronger. He grabbed Derek’s hands and enclosed them in his own, forcing Derek to pay attention to what he was saying. “Do you remember before we started dating? We came out here during homecoming and I said something to you before we kissed. Do you remember?” Derek nodded his head. “No, Derek. I need verbal you right now.”

He swallowed. He could feel Stiles’ thumb absently rubbing over his knuckles. It grounded him. “Yes. I do. I could never forget.”

“Well, obviously not because I said there was no going back. Once I kissed you, we were no longer friends, we were something way, way more.” His voice broke. “I told you to be sure. There’s nothing to undo what we did or what we are. I love you, Derek. I don’t want to go back to being just friends. I don’t think I could handle it at this point.”

Derek looked into his eyes and he could feel tears falling down his cheeks again. “I don’t want to go back either. I love you, too. I love you so much it hurts me when I think about it.”

Stiles huffed out a shaky laugh. “So then let’s go forward, huh? Do you wanna go forward with me?”

He nodded and dove forward to kiss him. It was the best kiss they’ve ever had, and it was fitting that it was where they first started. When they broke apart, it seemed to have stopped raining, but they didn’t want to walk back to school. There’s no way Derek would let Stiles out from his hold. So they just sat there, talking, laughing, just being. 

And loving. There was so much love. 

The sun began to shine, and Derek just pulled Stiles closer to him. “I love you,” he said, looking fiercely into his eyes. 

Stiles smiled. “I love you, too.” They kissed again but was interrupted when someone coughed in front of them. 

They looked up to see Boyd and Erica holding hands. “Don’t mind us, we’ll find somewhere else to go. Glad to see you two made up.” Erica winked at Derek as she dragged Boyd over to the make out spot by the football field. 

Derek laughed and turned his attention back to Stiles who was radiating glee at the sight of them. He leaned his forehead against his. “Are you sure there’s no going back? Because that is going to get annoying real quick.”

Stiles scoffed, “You love it.”

He couldn’t deny it. 

“Can we go back to making out now? I really like it when we do that.” Stiles wiggled his eyebrows at Derek and made what he called ‘his sex face.’ “C’mon, you know you wanna. Derek! C’mon. Kiss me. Pleas—”

So he gave him what he wanted. There was no turning back, anyway. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I love all of you!
> 
> xo
> 
> I'm on Tumblr, from-planet-gallifrey, feel free to hit me up!


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